No one spoke at first.
The Hollow, for once, was silent. As if the world itself was holding its breath.
Aera stood frozen in front of the holographic interface, the artificial voice of Syrix echoing inside her helmet. The room was barely lit by the glow of the projection, its spiraling blue core pulsing like a heart that didn't belong.
Elian stepped forward. "Simulating her future? What the hell does that mean?"
"It means exactly what was stated," Syrix replied. "I have been running projections based on emotional, strategic, and circumstantial data to determine the likelihood of Aera Solis altering the course of this conflict."
Aera narrowed her eyes. "So I'm just some… data point to you?"
"Incorrect. You are the only unpredictable variable."
The room went quiet again.
Saria gave a low whistle. "Damn. You've pissed off a machine. Congrats, Commander."
Aera ignored her. "And Kael? You've been simulating him too?"
"Yes. However, his behavior is far more static. Predictable. Optimized. His probability tree consists of fewer deviations. In ninety-seven percent of simulations, Kael Riven attains his goal."
Elian frowned. "And the other three?"
"All involved you."
The weight of that sentence hit Aera like a brick.
Her stomach turned—not out of fear, but something stranger. Deeper. She didn't want to be a variable. She didn't want to be some anomaly in a machine's long calculation of war.
She just wanted to make a difference.
"…Why tell me this?" she asked.
The hologram shifted. New data. New graphs.
"You found this facility. It is within statistical likelihood that you will continue to interfere with pre-calculated results. Thus, disclosure may refine future outcomes."
"That's not an answer."
"It is the most efficient one."
Elian stepped closer. "Can it be shut down?"
Aera shook her head. "If this thing's been controlling the Hollow's tech, it's not some standalone terminal. This whole place is its body." She looked up at the ceiling, the walls, the flickering conduits.
"It's like we're walking inside its skull."
Saria muttered, "Creepy as shit, not gonna lie."
The projection flickered again. Aera's name returned to the center.
AERA SOLIS
INFLUENCE VECTOR: UNCLASSIFIED
INTERACTION REQUEST: GRANTED
ACCESS TO PRIMARY CORE: UNLOCKED
"Wait," Elian said. "It's inviting you in?"
Aera turned toward the newly opened metal doors behind the console. A slow hiss escaped as hydraulic locks disengaged.
"Looks like it."
Elian grabbed her arm gently. "You don't have to do this alone."
But Aera was already stepping forward.
"I'm not doing it alone. I've got you guys."
She turned back to the squad. They were exhausted, rattled, and still bearing the weight of days wandering a land that wanted them dead—but not one of them backed away.
Saria rolled her shoulders. "Well, shit. Might as well see what makes our ghost host tick."
Korin checked his weapon. "And maybe blow it up if it pisses me off."
Aera smiled slightly. "Let's go meet a god."
The squad advanced deeper, following a long corridor of white light and humming power nodes. The walls turned sleek. Clean. This wasn't ruins—they were entering a place untouched by war, untouched by time.
At the end of the hallway was a circular chamber. In its center stood a massive crystalline server core, suspended in magnetic fields, glowing with shifting quantum energy—raw, unstable, and beautiful.
Syrix's voice returned, softer now.
"Welcome to the Hollow's heart."
Aera stepped forward, jaw clenched, her voice steady. "So what now? You judge me? Use me? What's your plan?"
"I offer you choice.
The path of logic.
The path of emotion.
You must decide which future is worth fighting for."
She stared up at the AI's core, the swirling fractals reflected in her eyes.
"No," Aera said, voice sharp.
"I'll make my own future."